Michael H. Israel, MA, JD, LLM

Mr. Israel chairs both the Firm’s State and Local Taxation Controversy Group and its Commercial Litigation Group. Prior to joining the firm, Michael was a Special Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Illinois Attorney General for three years, where he represented the Illinois Department of Revenue in the circuit courts of Illinois and federal court. Michael dealt with complex state and local, income tax, and sales tax, litigation matters including those related to nexus, apportionment, responsible officer liability, residency, and the defense of the constitutionality of state property tax exemption statutes; as well as matters related to federal income taxation.

Prior to his employment with the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, Michael practiced in federal and state courts in the areas of commercial litigation and tax litigation. In addition to handling complex tax matters, Michael has represented clients in actions involving: claims under the Illinois false claims act, breach of contract, non-compete agreements, limited liability disputes among members, an action seeking removal of a trustee, declaratory judgment actions, “white collar” fraud investigations conducted by federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Division of the Internal Revenue Service, and asserted and defended claims for temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions. Michael has experience in conducting arbitrations as well as trial experience.

Michael is an adjunct professor at the John Marshall Law School and has taught Advanced Federal Income Taxation in the school’s Master of Law in Taxation program since 2013.

Education:
Northwestern University School of Law, Master of Laws in Taxation
Northwestern University School of Law, Juris Doctor
Northwestern University, Master of Arts
Northwestern University, Bachelor of Arts

Law License:
Illinois (1999)

Court Admission:
United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, member of the General Bar and the Trial Bar

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Will Physical Presence Remain The Determinative Factor Or Will Quill Be Overturned?

Since 1992, the states have operated based upon the reasoning of Quill Corporation v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298 (1992) which established that a state could not require a retailer to collect sales tax unless... Click HERE to continue reading!

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Citibank N.A. claimed a refund of approximately $1.6 million in sales tax resulting from bad credit card debt for accounts financed by the bank. On November 30, 2017, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled unanimously that... Click HERE to continue reading!

Compressed Natural Gas not subject to the Motor Fuel Tax Law According to First District, (at least for certain tax periods).

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At DUGGAN BERTSCH, LLC, we are often asked by clients to explain the process by which a taxpayer can establish a “new” state residency for income tax purposes.

Sometimes we are asked to explain the impact of moving to a new state altogether or about the impact of remaining in your current state of residence while spending significant amounts of time in another or several other states.

Our firm represents both individuals as well as numerous and varied business entities. While determining state tax obligations is always a complex process, when a taxpayer has income from sources in multiple states, the complexity greatly increases. Past considerations relied upon “physical presence” as the main factor in determining tax reporting obligations - those days have quickly changed. Some states now assert obligations based upon “economic presence”.